I’m not going to claim that I am the first one to do this but I have found that a Sharpie pen is a great tool to paint fine molded on detail on plastic kits such as wrought iron door hinges. I use both a fine tip and a medium tip depending on the application. It is a lot easier to apply neatly and accurately than doing it with a brush. I also use it for touch up jobs. Primarily, I do it with a black pen but it could be done with other colors as well if you have the need for it.
I’ve used smilar pens to blacken the weatherstripping around windows in diesels. A little detail like this really stands out!
Bob Boudreau
They are also great for “painting” the window frames on plastic structure kits where the window frame is molded into the clear plastic window inserts. Several of the Walthers kits are like this, including the popular New River Mine kit.
That is a great idea, I think I’ll try it tonight. Has anybody used the “metallic” pens to color chrome or aluminum details? Should I dig into the gift wrap to find them and try it?
I like using Sharpies too instead of paint at times, but I’m wondering if anyone else has had the same problem I did a few weeks ago. I was building an industrial structure for a friend and deciced to use a black Sharpie to add the tar lines on the flat gray roof. After the roof details were added, I gave the whole model a wash of alcohol and india ink. Before I knew it, the ink wash caused the black Sharpie lines to run all over the place! I know I’ve used the same type of alcohol/ink wash before, but never
with those results!
I managed to blot up the runny ink and used some powdered chalk to add a layer of dust and “dirt” on the roof, which pretty much covered up the smeared ink, but I almost had a modeling disaster on my hands. Has anyone else ever had anything similar happen? Even if you haven’t, it may be something to be wary of when using a weathering wash.
Jim
Oh, yeah.
I use them all the time on nscale vehicles to do the bumpers, door handles, small chrome details, etc.
Mike Tennent
Fine, but in the right light that black Sharpie ink is definitely purple looking as opposed to black. The metallic silver works real well for window edging.
Testors Dullcote will cause Sharpie ink to run as well. If you want to use a Sharpie, do it after the Dullcote sprays.
I use alcohol to remove sharpie marks from things, so it’s no surprise when you applied the alky/ink wash, it just came off.
Glenn
Somethign else Sharpies are good for is easly adding graffitii, for those of you looking for the very realsitc touch. I have cars that I have “tagged” with the markes. Nothingto crazy, but a quick set of intails or a small name addes a nice touch. I also J.K.+ B.L. (John K loves Brandy L.) hey, she thoguht it was cute
canazar, my wife thought she was cute one night and tagged a rock on my layout with our initials( LOL) so, i know where your comming from [:D]. tried the sharpie biz on structures and they seem to work ok haven’t used dullcote on anything yet so, thanks for all the info of them running guys.
Chris
My LHS has a bin with a rainbow of colored Sharpies in it. Tamiya also makes paint sticks in a few colors that are like a sharpie but are paint instead of ink. I use the yellow and white for safety striping on step edges and railings.
THANKS! That’s a great idea. I’ve been going nuts trying to paint that stuff with a fine brush.
I can’t right now remember the name, but my local grocery store carries pens that include a line of metallic pens, I’ve used the silver and gold ones on models and they work very well. I’ve seen them at K-mart and Walgreens too. That and/or a silver sharpie is great for detailing things like door handles etc. On say an Athearn reefer, I’ll use a black sharpie to color the door hinges and grabirons. On some boxcars or other cars I’ve used silver to color grabirons or other items on the car, then used powdered charcoal to weather the car and seal it in with flat finish (acrylic or dullcote). I haven’t had any trouble with it running with those finish sprays. I would seal it in with flat finish before doing any weathering with alcohol or paint washes.
Sharpies help to eliminate the chrome color on steam loco’s rods, etc.
Sharpies will fade much more rapidly that paint products.
I used sharpies to paint molded on bands of my wood water tank kit.
This is all great information to have on hand, especially the effects Testor’s dullcote and alchohol mixes have on Sharpies.
Thanks everyone.
Russell
A Sharpie layer atop a Dullcote layer isn’t good either. Sharpie also EATS through Dullcote, which can leave quite a mess.
Moral of the story: Sharpie & Dullcote do not mix.
Matt
I sometimes use Sharpies and other magic markers to give wood a weathered appearance and paint fine details like moulding and hinges. There was an article in a 1980s issue of the Narrow Gauge and Short Line Gazette about using magic markers for weathering wood, however, alcohol-based solutions and magic markers don’t mix! (or technically mix too well) If you want to give a model with Sharpie-type ink on it an additional treatment, use a water-based medium and do NOT use alcohol or solvent -based mediums.